Model Citizen
by Loopstagirl
Summary: Saving the world was a full time job. But that doesn't stop three brothers receiving another job offer.


"Are we done?"

Virgil sounded how Scott felt: hot, dirty and in need of a long cool shower. Scott took his helmet off, running his fingers through his sticky hair and surveyed the area.

It was a mess; no one could deny it. But the fires were out and silence had fallen. Scott was sure he would hear the cries for help in his dreams, but, right now, there wasn't any ringing in his ears and he sighed.

"Yeah," he said. "I think we are. Meet you back at Two?"

As Virgil muttered his confirmation, Scott set off. He started at a jog, then realised he was too hot for that. If the weather didn't turn, they would be back out here the next day dealing with more fires. Scott mildly wondered if there was anything left to burn but he had long ago stopped questioning nature. If it wanted to make their life hell, it would find a way.

Both John and Virgil were waiting for him in the cool shade of Two. Scott's pace picked up, eager to get out of the sun. As he drew closer, he realised that both of his brothers had identical grins on their faces. Scott slowed – again – and stared at them. He knew that look. It was the look that had landed them – and him as he tried to stop them – in trouble as kids. It was the look that said John had thought of something and Virgil thought it was a brilliant idea.

Scott stopped before he reached the shade, staring at them. He made an aborted movement to put his hands on his hips, realising the effect would be somewhat lost by having his helmet dangling from one hand. His body was covered with bruises from this rescue without whacking himself in the leg with his own helmet. He would never live it down.

"What?" He asked, suspicion lining his tone. If anything, Virgil's grin got wider.

"You have to see what John has found."

"Am I going to like it?" Scott asked slowly, his feet reluctantly dragging him forward. His pace was clearly not fast enough for Virgil; his younger brother darted forward – with far too much energy for the end of a rescue – and snatched Scott's helmet from his unresisting fingers.

"Hey!" Scott made no move to get it back as Virgil securely stored it with the rest of their equipment and started walking away. Scott hadn't seen him this excited for years and his suspicions only grew.

"What have you found?" He asked John nervously but John only winked.

"You'll see."

He too turned and walked off and Scott knew he had no choice to follow them. He told himself they were adults now and John's ideas tended to be sensible compared to the dangerous inventions he had tried to build when he was ten, dragging Virgil in to be his assistant and the whole thing blowing up in their faces. He didn't believe his own reassurances.

"Better not be far," Scott grumbled under his breath as he trudged along after the other two. He was hot and irritable and had decided that if this wasn't important, he was going to beat them home and steal all the water for denying him a shower. Scott's pace quickened when he realised Virgil had vanished from view. John was waiting for him, but as Scott drew level, he too disappeared behind a large outcropping of rocks.

"Where are we going?" Scott called. He copied John's actions, turning sideways to slide through the gap. Then he stopped, his jaw dropping open. His brothers' grins had returned and they beamed at him. Scott finally smiled back.

"This is amazing," he breathed. John had discovered a small clearing, bathed in shadows by the large rocks that surrounded it. It cut the heat dramatically, but Scott barely noticed as he moved towards the gentle river running through it. He crouched down, letting the water trickle through his fingers. It was cool, refreshing and exactly what Scott needed.

"I think it's clean," John said quietly behind him. If John believed something, then that was good enough for Scott and he cupped some in his hand and drunk deeply. It was the sweetest water he had ever tasted and he groaned out loud. His next handful was splashed over his face, running down his neck. Scott sat back properly and looked over his shoulder.

Both John and Virgil had unzipped their uniforms down to their waists. John's t-shirt was moderately clean, but there was no telling Virgil's had once been white. Virgil caught Scott's amused look and glanced down at himself. Then he shrugged and stripped the material over his head. Scott rolled his eyes. Virgil's skin was just as dirty – he may as well not have been wearing protective clothing at all for the good it seemed to have done him. The other two moved towards the river, crashing down next to Scott. Their hands reached forward eagerly and Scott shifted over a little to grant them access to the water.

The rescue had been a long and hard one. The temperature from the weather hadn't made it any easier to deal with the fires. But in the shade with the river trickling gently by their feet, Scott felt like it had never happened. The tension fled from his shoulders and the next time his fingers dipped into the water, it was to flick some towards Virgil. His brother hadn't anticipated the action and he gasped as the cold water hit his chest. John became Virgil's victim when he was unable to muffle his laughter.

Half in uniform, half out, the three brothers continued their mini-water fight, but there was no effort in their actions. It was too relaxing here. Scott wondered if they had crossed some sort of line. They were here as International Rescue, but were quite clearly acting as a family rather than a unit.

Deciding that the other two had the better idea with removing their uniform, Scott stood up to unzip his own. But as he did so, something caught his attention. Hissing at the other two to stay quiet, he turned slowly as he tried to work out where he had heard the sound from. It didn't escape his notice that his brothers were so used to doing as he said when he used that tone of voice that they had immediately fallen silent. For a moment, Scott wondered if he had imagined it; his senses were still on high alert as they were technically in a danger zone. But then he heard it again. A small, nervous laugh.

"We've got company," he muttered. John and Virgil stood up. The tension that had left all three of them came back tenfold and Scott motioned for them to stay where they were as he strode towards the noise. He didn't even reach the outcropping where they had slipped through before three women suddenly stumbled in. A fourth followed and Scott wondered if she had pushed her companions through. He looked back over his shoulder, eyebrow raised. John's lips twitched and Virgil glanced towards where his t-shirt was resting on the ground before shrugging and staying how he was.

"Can we help you?" Scott knew his voice sounded cold. But this was hardly the first time female victims had followed them. He was glad he had kept his uniform on. One stepped closer, her eyes running over him. Before Scott could flinch back, she was touching his arm, running her fingers over the material.

"It fits as well as it looks. No padding, no lose parts… He would be perfect for the new line from Italy."

"I agree." A second stepped forward, and this time, Scott jerked back. It didn't perturb her though. "He would certainly show off the all-in-one's far better than that guy they have in at the moment. He's all muscle but no toning."

"Look at the chest on this one."

Scott spun to see the other women had walked past him towards his brothers. Virgil folded his arms across his chest self-consciously, but it only pleased their audience further.

"We all know what line he could model," one said. There was a self-satisfied note in her voice, but Scott's head was reeling with confusion. This was not the sort of conversation that usually took place, although their bodies were often involved. For one thing, the women hadn't even spoken directly to them, but were just examining them with what seemed like a critical eye.

"But what about this one?"

"Casual," the fourth woman said, coming to a stop directly in front of John. "Open shirt, dark jacket…he would set it off strikingly."

"Excuse me." Virgil's voice was at least an octave higher than usual and Scott had to bite back a smirk as he caught John's eye and knew his brother as having to do the same thing. "But who are you?"

"Oh, how rude of us," one exclaimed. "We haven't introduced ourselves."

In one smooth movement, as if it was a routine they had done time and time again, three of the women all produced business cards and handed them to the bemused brothers. Scott looked down at his, then blinked and had to read it again. He still wasn't sure the wording on the card was getting through to his brain.

"You're with a modelling agency?" John spluttered. For a man who was used to co-ordinating rescues from afar, he certainly sounded more flustered than Scott had ever heard him.

"Got it in one, sweetie. Very appreciative of your help earlier." One winked at Scott and he remembered pulling her from a collapsed building. "But we couldn't help being appreciative of other things as well. Now, we know you are all about secrecy so we're willing to do you a deal and not have your faces on camera."

"Wait a minute," Scott said. He hoped his voice was more controlled than Virgil's, but he could certainly feel a blush on his face. "You're offering us jobs?"

"Everyone needs down-time, right? Why not have a day job as well as shooting off to save the world?"

"But…"

"We've even got some samples that we would give you for free. It might not be the same resistance as this stuff-," her hand drifted towards John's uniform. Considering that was down by his waist, it was no surprise that he lurched back. It was lucky Virgil was there, for Scott wasn't sure whether John would have ended up in the river if he hadn't bumped into Virgil.

"But we've got some stuff that might help in other areas, if you know what I mean."

She winked again. John went bright red and Virgil couldn't meet anyone's eye. Scott knew it was his job as their big brother and field commander to take control of the situation. He just hoped that his normal tan was hiding that he was blushing just as hard as John. He thought it was easier when victims wanted to thank them – at least he had perfected the art of saying no without offending anyone.

"I think-," Scott coughed, swallowed and started again. "I think we're going to have to decline on your offer, however generous it is."

"I told you they wouldn't say yes," one muttered, a sullen look suddenly on her face.

"Oh well." The woman who had been explaining their offer look crestfallen for a few seconds, but then hitched a smile back onto her face. "You never know if you don't ask. But believe me, you would have showed off our ranges far better than the guys doing it right now. Sure I can't tempt you to save the fashion world as well as the actual one?"

That had gone better than Scott had expected it too. He felt his blush fading and the smile on his face became genuine.

"I'm sure. And I think I can speak for the others when I say that they are sure as well."

She looked disappointed, but resigned to it.

"Well, ladies," she said. "Looks like we've hit a dead end."

The four of them moved back towards the rocks. Scott watched them go, feeling like he was missing a trick. They were leaving too easily. But they vanished and the three brothers stood there in silence. No one seemed to want to be the first to break it, nor could they make eye contact with one another.

Eventually, John bent down and splashed cold water on his red cheeks. It broke the spell and Scott finally unzipped his uniform, mirroring his brothers' actions by letting it hang around his waist. He was glad he never had the chance to before, for he wasn't sure where hands would have ended up otherwise. Moving back towards the river, he paused momentarily when he once again thought he heard something.

Shaking his head with a smile, Scott didn't say anything but joined the others. It took a while before the relaxed atmosphere from before settled back over them, but eventually, it felt like the conversation had never taken place. Virgil even muttered something about fumes from the fires making them all hallucinate, but that was the closest any of them got to admitting to what had just happened.

It took over an hour before Scott called an end to the fun. He regretfully got to his feet and realised he would have been better taking his uniform off, for it was stuck to him where John and Virgil had decided to team up and drench him. Still, he knew he would have the last laugh when he got home quicker than the other two. As John and Virgil fell into step with him, Scott was certain he heard a giggle and rushing footsteps. John stopped but Scott kept walking.

"Oh yeah," he called casually over his shoulder. "We had an audience. Did I not mention that?"

John's blush returned and Scott laughed. It felt good to be this carefree after a rescue. Just because they had to cut themselves off from the world didn't stop any of them – not even Scott – from appreciating some attention now and again. They were all still young men, after all.

They slipped back into their uniform and their conversation turned official as they moved towards the 'birds. There weren't many people left around by now and it only took a few moments for them to be ready to go. Scott shot for the sky and raced for home, eager to be out of his uniform properly. Judging by the speed he saw Thunderbird Two straining towards, he knew his brothers were feeling the same.

Later that evening, Scott sprawled on the sofa, a cold drink in his hand and feeling pleasantly tired. He secretly wanted something alcoholic, but knew there was every chance more fires would be breaking out considering the heat back at the rescue zone. He wanted to be clear headed for whatever happened next.

But he was still comfortable and knew the rescue couldn't have gone much better. Having the time with Virgil and John had been a pleasant change and despite the lives that had been in danger, Scott had had a good day. Hearing Virgil laughing made him sit up and he looked towards the door just as John and Virgil wandered in.

John had a screen in his hand and whatever was on it was making Virgil dissolve into laughter every time he looked at it.

"What?" Scott asked, not being sure if he wanted to know.

"I thought I would do some research on our future employers," John said. His face was completely straight, but Scott had learnt over the years how good his brother was at hiding his emotions if he needed to. "The new line from Italy… Well, it will look wonderful on you, big brother."

He turned the screen around and Scott narrowly avoided spitting his drink out all over it.

"People actually wear that?" He spluttered, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Apparently," Virgil said. He threw himself down next to Scott, pulling his drink out of his hand and taking a swig for himself. "But we both agree the lime green will look good on you. Bring out your eyes."

"I don't have green eyes."

"Well, it was either bring out your eyes or highlight other parts of you."

John reacted seconds before Scott did. John safely took Scott's drink while the elder brother chucked a cushion at Virgil, hitting him squarely in the chest. John passed the drink back to Scott, but not before taking a gulp for himself. Scott looked sadly at what was left and knew it was going to be up to him to replace it. Holding out a hand, he gestured for the screen and flicked onto the underwear section.

"Don't get too comfortable, Virg. This is your new role, isn't it?" He handed the screen to John and got up. Heading towards the kitchen, he knew he would be coming back with not one drink, but three. It was the only way to keep his own safe from his brother. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Virgil stretching towards the screen, trying to get it away from John before the damage could be done.

John's laughter almost drowned out Virgil's indignant yelp and Scott grinned, shaking his head fondly at the noise coming from behind him. Although there was a silent agreement that the rest of the family was never going to find out about this, Scott knew the memory would keep them going for some time.

Pouring out the drinks and trying to balance them as he moved back through, Scott realised how relaxed he felt. Considering the day had involved a dangerous rescue, he was content and happy.

A good day indeed.


End file.
